Spiral of the Six
by SonicPrime972
Summary: Twilight and her friends were hanging out in the park when out of nowhere, a magic warp hole appeared under them and transported them to a realm bursting with magical power. An old mage brought them there because he expected them to save the world, but to do so, they must learn this world's style of magic.
1. Chapter 1

**I think it's high time I spiced this crossover subcategory up and took my own spin on things. Real quick, all the Equestrians in this story will be humans with wings where-ever necessary. Here's the rundown.**

 **Twilight and her friends were hanging out in the park when out of nowhere, a magic warp hole appeared under them and transported them to a realm bursting with magical power. An old mage brought them there because he expected them to save the world, but to do so, they must learn this world's style of magic.**

 **Ch. 1: The Portal**

It was a normal day in Ponyville, and a group of five girls was enjoying the afternoon sun with a picnic.

"I have to say, Twilight," said one. "I seriously needed this." She was the tomboy of the group and as such, she was pretty laid-back. But that didn't stop her from working out and getting to be one of the strongest people in town, not to mention the small town's number one racing champion.

She had magenta eyes and wore a cyan jacket over a white t-shirt with a thunderbolt colored with the primary colors along with some denim short-shorts and bright red sneakers.

One of the most interesting thing about her was that her hair was all the colors of the rainbow, which coined her name, Rainbow Dash. But yet another interesting thing about her was that she had a pair of large cyan feathered wings protruding from her back through holes in her shirt and jacket.

"Well, I only do what I think is best for my friends, Rainbow," replied Twilight. She was the smartest of the group, not to mention the most adept at magic.

She had beautiful purple eyes and wore a lavender suit with a purple skirt and darker purple garters and small brown slip-on shoes on her legs.

Her long purple hair which reached down below her waist had a streak of both lavender and rose, and she had a pair of lavender wings, far more beautiful than Rainbow's.

"Well, I must say this is quite the way to spend the afternoon." said another. She was the most beautiful woman in town.

She had gleaming sapphire-blue eyes and extremely well-maintained curly purple hair wearing a gleaming white shirt under a gray coat with purple fur in the hood along with some black pants and white heels.

She had such a love for the rare gems she used for her fashion designs that everyone in town called her Rarity.

There were three other girls on the team, and two were already present.

One was a country girl with bright green eyes, wearing a stetson hat over her blonde hair and an orange shirt tied to expose some of her stomach along with a pair of jeans and a pair of cowboy boots with three apple-shaped red patches on each of them.

Friends called her Applejack, and rightly so, since she, her brother and sister and their grandmother ran an apple orchard outside town.

The other was a timid little girl with moderate cyan eyes, one of which was covered by her long, pale pink hair.

She was wearing a light green tank top with two light grayish-gold wings poking out of holes in it along with a sunset-colored skirt with three white butterfly patches on it. She didn't really wear shoes all that often, though. Not because she couldn't afford them, like so many newcomers have asked, but because, and I quote, "Not wearing them helps her get closer to the animals she lives with, in the forest."

She wasn't as strong a flyer as Rainbow or Twilight, more a flutter than a flap of her wings every time she tried, and since she was so close to animals, she was very shy. Hence her name, Fluttershy.

"Hey, has anyone seen Pinkie?" asked Applejack, looking at her gold-plated pocket watch. "She was supposed to be here an hour ago."

"Last I heard, she was working on something. Something to do with her party cannon," said Rainbow. Then a loud cannon shot rang out and a speck of pink flew through the air towards them.

"INCOMING!" it shouted. Everyone looked at it and saw it was their friend, Pinkie. She was a bit of a lunatic with light cerulean eyes and brilliant raspberry hair that was curled up like cotton candy barely hidden under a twin-tailed jester's cap with three balloons emblazoned on it; two were blue with yellow strings, and the last one was yellow with a blue string.

She also wore a dark pink overcoat with poofy lighter pink sleeves and white frilly gloves. She wore a simple dark leotard under her coat, leaving her legs completely bare, except for the curly-toed blue shoes she wore, and I swear, if she had her own intro music, it would most definitely be a light-hearted mix of "Entry of the Gladiators" by Julius Fucik.

Y'know, that classic circus music. Anyway, she was just about to land face-first on Rarity when she did a mid-air flip and landed on her hands just behind the purple-haired girl.

"And a hop, and a skip, and a jump aaaannndd..." she said, flipping a few more times, landing perfectly on her feet facing her friends to round it off.

"Ta-da!" she said and trumpets rang out of nowhere, matching her notes. The others all clapped at her display and Rainbow flew over to her.

"Not a bad entrance, Pinkie." she said.

"Thanks. I've been practicing," said Pinkie, pulling out a deck of cards and doing a few tricks with them.

"Well, I'm glad you could make it, Pinkie. But what's with the intro? How did you just fall out of the sky?" asked Twilight.

"Simple. I wanted to see what it would be like if I fired myself from my party cannon, and it was so much fun, I think I'm gonna do it again," she replied, pulling her light-blue cannon out of her apparently _really_ deep coat-pockets and loading herself in head-first showing off her leotard-clad crotch, making some of the girls blush in embarressment.

"You know, Pinkie, if I were you, though thank heaven I'm not, I would invest in a skirt." said Rarity.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to throw one into my wardrobe, but I've never gotten around to it," she replied, poking her head out of the cannon. "Rainbow, light me up!"

"I'm not really sure about this, Pinkie," she replied. "You know the old saying; 'Luck never lasts'."

"Who said this was luck? I've been practicing this landing routine for two months. Granted, on all my practice runs, I was jumping off a building onto an angled trampoline, but a trampoline is nothing more than a less-powerful cannon. There. See? Completely sound logic."

"Y'know, I have to say, she's got a point." said Twilight.

"See? Twilight agrees with me. Now light her up!" said Pinkie. Rainbow rolled her eyes and struck a match on the back of the cannon, aiming it back to the town square. But just before she could bring the match to the fuse, a large purple warp-hole appeared below them.

"That doesn't look good," said Rainbow. Twilight tried to fly everyone away from the hole, but it pulled them in until the winged girls didn't have enough strength to fly anymore.

"Well, we may as well see where this thing leads!" said Twilight. "Who knows? This could just take us around the block."

"Wherever we're going, I hope there's cake there!" said Pinkie.

"You and your cake, Pinkie. Seriously," said Rainbow, leaning back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2: City of Magic**

Twilight was out cold for a while, and when she drowsily woke up, her stomach felt like it was inside-out.

"Ow. What the heck just happened?" she asked as she leaned up on the grass she was lying in.

"Not to worry, young one," said a voice. "It's just minor Spiral Sickness. You'll be fine in a minute or so." Twilight looked to the owner of the voice and saw it was an old man with a long white beard and bushy eyebrows wearing a monocle, completely covering his right eye, along with a purple robe, covered in stars and moons with a matching pointy hat carrying a staff levitating a small blue crystal orb inside a golden hook. Twilight immediately stood up and pointed her palm at him, generating a small purple magic blast.

"Who are you? Where are my friends? And for that matter, where am I?" she asked.

"Now now, calm down, young one. Your friends are fine," the old man replied. "I've already introduced myself to them. Now, as for you, hmmm..."

"What?" asked Twilight.

"My vision seems to be failing me. Are you a boy or a girl?" he asked, adjusting his monocle.

"I- I'm a girl. Why?" asked Twilight, powering down the magic blast.

"Excellent. Now then, what sort of magic do you practice?" he asked.

"Perhaps yooou should consult the Book of Secrets." said another voice. Twilight looked and saw a small snowy owl wearing what looked like scholar's robes swoop down with a large book in his talons.

"Ah yes, of course, just as before. Thank you, Gamma," said the old man, taking the book and levitating it in front of Twilight. "Just answer these questions to decide what type of wizard you are."

"Okay then," said Twilight, opening the book. There were some simple questions in it, but also some rather odd ones, but in the end, she answered them all and the book's pages flipped to a section with a scale on the page.

"Ah, you are a wizard of Balance," said the old man. "Balance Wizards are wise, clever, thoughtful and charming," Twilight blushed a bit at that remark. "Many famous sorcerers, such as yourself, include Cleopatra, Margaret Thatcher, and of course, Merlin. Sorcerers are excellent at adjusting the rules of combat."

"Wait, combat? What is this, a wizard dueling club?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, heaven forbid. This is actually a school of magic, teaching young wizards like yourself the ways of magic." said the old man.

"Well, I must say, this magic works wonders for changing clothing." came Rarity's voice. Twilight looked and saw all her friends in different colored clothing.

"Well, now that we have all that out of the way, miss Sparkle," said the old man. "Time for introductions." Then something stirred in Twilight's pocket. Then a small purple lizard with green eyes and frills climbed out onto Twilight's shoulder.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Well, I guess I'll go first," said Twilight, picking him up off her shoulder. "This is my baby dragon assistant, Spike."

"A pleasure. My name is Merle Ambrose," said the old man. "I am the headmaster of the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts here in Wizard City, and this is my assistant, Gamma." Then a perch appeared and the same owl landed on it.

"Quite pleased to meet yooou," he said. "Here, wizards such as you test their skills by summoning fantastic beasts and dueling."

"Liking this place more every minute." said Rainbow.

"To become a master wizard, you must learn all the spells in your class." said Twilight.

"Well, this should be fun, going to school together." said Twilight.

"Yes, but you will be in separate classes based on what type of wizard you are," said Ambrose. "For instance, Rainbow is a Storm mage or Diviner, Fluttershy is a Life wizard, or Theurgist, Pinkie is a Myth mage, or Conjurer, Rarity is an Ice wizard or Thaumaturge, and Applejack is a Fire wizard, or Pyromancer, so you may end up in different classes, but if you wish, I can ask Mr. Lincoln to get you all the same room in the dormitories."

"All right then," said Twilight. "As long as I can be with my friends, I'm happy." Then a large stormcloud floated over the tower near them. Then a thunderbolt shot into the wall and smashed it.

"Whoa! Does that normally happen around here?" asked Rainbow.

"No. There's more to this than meets the eye," said Ambrose. Then the silhouette of a man appeared in a window on the top floor.

"Whoooo was that?!" asked Gamma.

"How odd. Come along, girls. Let's investigate the matter." said Ambrose, walking into the tower.

"Let's hurry," said Twilight and she led everyone into the tower up to the top floor with Ambrose. When they opened the door, they saw a pale man with jet-black hair holding a staff topped with what looked like a dragon coiled around a red orb.

"Who's there...?" said Ambrose and he scowled when he saw the man. "Malistare!"

Ambrose." the man sneered.

"You are no longer welcome in my school! Why have you returned?" asked Ambrose.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "I'm here to resolve some unfinished business." Then he saw the girls. "Are these your latest students? Pfft. My henchmen will see to your little friends." He snapped his fingers and several orange dragon-like beasts in green robes appeared.

"Draconians! Quickly, girls. Take these spell card decks and deal with them. I shall see to Malistare personally." said Ambrose, throwing each of the girls a deck of cards.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, old man!" said Malistare.

"How are we supposed to fight? Four of us can't even use magic," said Rainbow, gesturing to herself, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack.

"Not to worry. I will guide you," said Ambrose, engaging in a duel with Malistare. Then one of the Draconians activated a magic circle and dragged the girls into some slots in it. Then some cards levitated into the air in front of them.

"Quickly! Cast one of these spells and summon the beasts," said Ambrose. Twilight grabbed one of her cards and smiled as she threw it into the middle of the circle.

"I summon the Scarab!" she shouted and drew a scale in the air with her finger, which appeared in a tan light. Then a large tan insect-like beast that seemed to be made of wood appeared. Rainbow liked where this was going and threw a card out too.

"I summon the Thunder Snake!" she yelled, drawing a light blue stormcloud-like seal in the air. Then a large light blue cobra with a lightning bolt-shaped tail appeared. Then the two monsters attacked. The scarab charged in and headbutted one of the draconians while the snake shot a lightning bolt out of his tail at another.

"I summon the Blood Bat!" shouted Pinkie, drawing a pyramid with an eye, and a brown bat spewing gross green slime appeared and blasted a slime ball at one of the enemies.

"I summon the Frost Beetle!" yelled Rarity, drawing a snowflake, and a white icy version of the Scarab appeared and blasted an icy wind at another out of its mouth.

"Ah summon the Fire Cat!" said Applejack, drawing a flame, and a flaming tiger appeared and slashed with fiery claws at another.

"I- I summon the Imp," said Fluttershy, drawing a leaf, and a small green creature appeared with a harp and played discordant notes at another. After a while, both sides had taken some serious damage.

Then Twilight noticed a couple of crystal balls on her belt, one filled with red liquid and the other filled with blue.

"Those are your Health and Mana orbs. We run out of either in a duel, we're toast," said Rainbow. Quickly, Fluttershy summoned a white unicorn to heal everyone. Then Applejack pulled a good card.

"Hey Twilight, got anythin' that can boost my spell power?" she asked.

"Yeah, here. I cast BalanceBlade!" she shouted and cast it on Applejack, giving her a large gray sword with an orange hilt. "This spell should boost your next spell's power by twenty-five percent."

"Perfect," said Applejack and tossed out another card. "With this BalanceBlade's power, Ah summon Meteor Strike!" she shouted and pinned the card to the ground with the sword. Then meteors rained from the sky and attacked all the Draconians, sending them all tumbling to the ground.

"Excellent teamwork, girls. Now let us tend to Malistare... Threatening new students before orientation, no less!" said Ambrose.

"Another time, old man. I have what I came for," said Malistare, holding up a book. "And now, I take my leave of this wretched place." Then he rapped his staff on the floor and vanished in a plume of smoke just before the Troll Pinkie summoned could attack, so it returned to its card.

"You are quite adept at magic," said Ambrose. "Well, I'd best pop back to my office and straighten up to get you enrolled. Meet me in my office when you're ready. But first, let me equip you all with spell books and wands." Then he teleported books and wands into their hands and vanished. The girls walked out of the tower and saw that Gamma had vanished as well.

"Well, this should be fun." said Twilight.

"Are you kidding? I flunked out of high school and now all of a sudden, we're sucked into a school which teaches some stuff I have never learned before? I basically stand no chance." said Rainbow.

"Not school, Rainbow. The adventures we'll have here in the city," said Twilight, then she looked herself over and saw that her clothes were ruined in the duel. "Is there a clothing store around here?" she asked.

"Of course, there is, darling. Now let's go get you changed!" said Rarity, teleporting away with her. Soon they were back wearing gleaming new robes.

"Well, we should probably go see the headmaster." said Twilight walking out of the lot in Golem Tower.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3: Welcome to Wizard City**

After a while, Twilight and the girls had looked around the commons area of Wizard City and came to a large house near an intersection.

"This must be where the Headmaster wanted us to meet him." said Twilight and led the others inside to find a study with piles of paperwork all over the place and the old headmaster rumaging through one of them.

"Mind if we help you, headmaster?" asked Twilight, whipping out her wand. The old man looked up, saw them and smiled.

"Why no. And by the way, welcome to Wizard City," he said. "I apologise about earlier. Things here are not always that hectic."

"I can imagine," said Rainbow, flying some books up to a high shelf. "So what was up with that weirdo that tried to kill us? He really didn't seem to like us."

"You shouldn't be so hard on Malistare," said Ambrose, sorting some scrolls. "The fact of the matter is that he was the teacher at the Death magic classroom in Ravenwood, and one of the best Necromancers in the Spiral, too. At least, he was up until recently. He worked there with his brother, Cyrus, and his wife; one of the best Theurgists in Wizard City, Sylvia Drake, lord rest her soul."

"She died?" asked Rarity, to which Ambrose nodded. "Well, I can see why he would be a trifle bitter."

"What happened to her?" asked Applejack.

"Poor woman was struck with the most severe cold in the Spiral. Even the best wizards could not help her, and even death cannot be undone," said the headmaster. "Malistare was horribly distraught, and he left the school and took everything with him. And I mean everything. Even his class building. Now only a crater stands between the schools of Myth and Fire."

"Man, now I feel kinda sorry for him," said Rainbow. "But why'd you say he isn't welcome here?"

"Once he left, he began studying Shadow Magic and using his Necromancy to steal the life force of all who get in his way," said Ambrose. "He's planning something big, but I have no clue what. What I do know is that you six may be the only thing that can put a stop to his plan, whatever it is."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ch. 4: Ghost Hunters**

He stopped when he found something in one of the stacks. "Oh, there you are. How'd you get down there?" He picked up six pieces of paper and handed them to Gamma. "Fly these over to Mr. Lincoln, will you?"

"Certainly, Merle." said the owl and flew out to the tunnel to Golem Court with the paper in his talons.

"What were those?" asked Pinkie.

"Your registration forms. Our registrar, Mr. Lincoln will get you all your own room in the dorms to share, but before you're enrolled, there's an issue over on Unicorn Way that absolutely must be dealt with," said Ambrose, pondering. "Ah! I've an idea. Perhaps, if it weren't too much trouble, you girls could have a look? You may be of some help. It will also let you see more of Wizard City." Then he handed Twilight a letter with an ornate wax seal. "Give this to Private Stillson at the gate to Unicorn Way. He'll let you through."

"Yes, sir. But where is the gate?" asked Twilight.

"Not to worry. We include maps in all our students' spellbooks," said Ambrose. "But just so you know, all you have to do is leave this building, hang left at the intersection, then right at the tunnel to Ravenwood, over the Rainbow Bridge, and through the tunnel."

"Thank you, headmaster." said Twilight and she led the girls out to the gate where a man with a blonde handlebar mustache outside it with a spear in his hand, who Twilight assumed to be Private Stillson.

"Halt! None shall pass. Unicorn Way is off limits to all students. There are ghosts everywhere." he said, holding his spear in front of them.

"Oh, well, I guess we should just head back to our dorms." said Fluttershy, walking off before Rainbow grabbed the back of her robe and stopped her.

"Oh no, ya don't," she said, grabbing the note from Twilight and showing it to Stillson. "We have orders from the Headmaster to go through here." Stillson looked it over and shrugged.

"Looks legit. All right, I'll let you pass. Just take this note on to Private Connelly. He'll tell you what to do." he said and raised the gate to the street.

"Thank you very much, sir." said Twilight and she walked down the tunnel with the others when Spike climbed up onto her shoulder.

"This is going to be fun," he said. Then they came out of the tunnel and found a gleaming part of town with gleaming green grass and a large unicorn statue in the middle of a square surrounded by water.

"Wow, this place is amazing," said Twilight. Then Rainbow saw someone wearing the same uniform as Stillson.

"You must be Connelly," she said, showing him the headmaster's note. "We have orders from the headmaster to investigate the street."

"Ah, a letter from the headmaster, eh?" asked Connelly. "You're very brave to bring this to me."

"Why? Because of the ghosts?" she asked. "Pfft. Please. I can handle them with one hand tied behind my back."

"Don't be so certain. I've heard the ghosts down the street know how to use Ice Magic, so you and your friends should be careful going further down the street," said Connelly. "I've seen students like you go down there and never return."

"If yer tryin' to scare us, you'll have to try harder than that." said Applejack.

"N-not for me." said Fluttershy.

"Well, either way, your arrival here is a blessing," said Connelly. "Dark forces have risen in our fair city, and even with all hands on deck, we can't win. We would be honored if you would use your magic to put Lost Souls to rest for us. Report back when you're finished."

"We'll see to it, sir." said Twilight and led her friends down the street.

"You know, this whole place is giving me ideas for a new line of clothing to work on when we get home." said Rarity.

" _If_ we get home." said Rainbow.

"What do ya mean, Rainbow?" asked Applejack.

"It's just that... we have no idea how long we could be stuck here. It could be months. Years even." said Rainbow.

"Well, who says we can't practice our old hobbies or jobs here?" asked Rarity.

"She's got a point, Rainbow," said Twilight. "Now if you don't mind, I believe we've found those Lost souls we were asked to hunt." The team looked out and saw an army of light blue ghosts floating through the street.

"Looks like we're gonna need some serious power." said Twilight.

"Well, Connelly said that these punks use ice magic, right?" asked Rainbow.

"Agreed. And fire always beats ice. Applejack, you're up first," said Twilight. "Think you can handle it?" Applejack cracked her neck and knuckles before whipping out her wand.

"Piece a' cake," she said. Then she drew a card and threw it into the street. "Ah cast Major Fire Flare!" With a wave of her wand, a large meteor-like burst of fire shot from her wand and roasted the ghosts all the way down the street. Smoke flowed into the air from her wand, so she decided to be a badass and blow it off like the barrel smoke from a gun.

"What'd Ah tell ya? Piece a' cake." she smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5: Dark Fairies (pt. 1)  
**

"Most impressive, girls," said a voice. They looked and saw a young man with green eyes and robes. "That was most certainly some first-class pyromancy."

"Uh thanks, but who are you?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, of course. Where are my manners?" he said and bowed. "Ceren Nightchant, star pupil of Moolinda Wu, Theurgy professor of Ravenwood, at your service."

"Then what are you doing here? It's dangerous," said Fluttershy.

"Professor Wu sent me to see if the rumors about the fairies along the street are true." said Ceren.

"What rumors?" asked Rainbow.

"Not that sure myself, but whatever it is, it's got black magic written all over it," said Ceren. "Anyway, I came down to check it out, but the guards won't let me go any further than this pavilion, But they haven't stopped you yet."

"And given that fact, you'd like us to see what we can do?" asked Rarity.

"If it's not too much trouble. Just head down the street and see if you find any fairies," said Ceren.

"And if they go bad against us?" asked Pinkie.

"Well then, you'd best know how to defend yourselves." said Ceren, walking back to the pavilion.

"Does anyone else think we're more of monster hunters than magic students?" asked Rainbow.

"I guess, but like the headmaster said, once we get this whole issue out of the way, we'll be enrolled," said Twilight. Soon enough, they found a group of fairies flying along the street, but they were pale with black clothes and maroon wings.

"Man, Ceren was right. These fairies look really weird," said Rainbow.

"Oh, come on Dashie," said Pinkie, zipping up to one. "These things are so cute." Then it shot a blast of life magic at Pinkie, knocking her into a wall. But instead of wincing in pain, she laughed. "Oh man, that was incredible! Cmon hit me again!"

"Pinkie, I think we might want to be protecting ourselves." said Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy's right," said Rarity. "Besides, maybe if we defeat them, they'll turn back to normal."

"Well, it's worth a shot," said Twilight, looking through her deck. After they defeated a few, they were disappointed to see Rarity's hunch about the fairies turning back after a defeat was wrong.

"Well, it was a good theory, Rarity," said Twilight. "We'd better tell Ceren." After they told him, he was worried too.

"Dark forces are clearly at work here, girls," he said. "Some darkness has gotten into the city, despite Ambrose's attempts to protect us. I have to report to Professor Wu."

"How about after we clear things up here?" asked Spike. Ceren was surprised.

"Your dragon can talk?" he asked. "What species is he? Southern Mountain?"

"Yeah, but how could you possibly know that?" asked Twilight.

"I've done my research," said Ceren. "And only Southern Mountain dragons have this spike on the end of their tails."

"Huh. Impressive. But why did your teacher choose you to come here?" asked Twilight.

"Well, mostly because I'm her star pupil, but also because my friends tell me I never leave well enough alone, and I felt this was my chance to prove myself." said Ceren.

"Yeah, I had some friends back in my old hometown who said the same thing about me," said Twilight. "But I've gotten over it."

"But this time something foul is afoot, I'm certain of it. We have to get to the bottom of this before the city crumbles to dust," said Ceren. "Maybe Lady Oriel will know something."

"Who's Lady Oriel?" asked Twilight.

"She's the seraph who empowers the street. The headmaster brought her and the other founding spirits here with him when he founded Wizard City and Ravenwood," said Ceren and he levitated Twilight's spellbook off her belt and opened it in front of her, pointing at the end of the street. "She lives here, in the hedge maze at the end of the street. You'll have to be careful heading down there, though. From what I've heard, ghosts and dark fairies have flooded the streets further down."

"Except the sidewalks," said Rainbow. "When AJ roasted those ghosts earlier, I noticed that they tried to escape to the sidewalks, but they got stuck against something."

"Exactly. That's because the headmaster cast a spell on all the sidewalks in town to exclude all beings created by or masters in Shadow Magic, so no monsters can get to or from any other part of the city," said Ceren.

"All right, so stay out of the middle of the street. Good tip," said Twilight, looking at the map. "Okay, so just from looking at this map, it looks like the fastest way to the maze is past this tower here."

"Oh-ho-ho can't go there. That's Rattlebones' tower. He's as dangerous as his necromancy is powerful," said Ceren. "You get anywhere near the ghosts at his tower, you're likely to join them. I know. I've seen it happen."

"All right. Then what do you suggest?" asked Rainbow.

"Easy. The ghosts can't engage you in a duel if they can't touch you, can they?" asked Ceren.

"I am intrigued. Elaborate," said Twilight. Ceren smirked and pulled out a large elaborately stitched rug.

"How is this supposed to keep the ghosts from touching us?" asked Applejack.

"Just get on," said Ceren. Rarity stepped onto the rug, but nothing happened. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. It only responds to Life Magic." So Fluttershy stepped on and the rug started floating.

"Whoa. A magic carpet," said Twilight. "I read about these back home, but I always thought they were just a myth."

"That's what we thought about Nightmare Moon before we met you, and look how that ended up." said Rainbow, climbing onto the rug.

"She has a point." said Pinkie, jumping on after her.

"'Nightmare Moon'?" asked Ceren.

"Long story. We'll explain later," said Twilight, climbing on.

"That's if the crazy stuff out on the street doesn't kill us." said Applejack.

"Okay. Now Fluttershy, this carpet responds to Theurgy, so you're driving," said Ceren. "Whatever you do, don't stop until you get to the hedge maze."

"I won't," said Fluttershy and she brought the carpet higher. Soon they had flown to the end of the street and found an enormous building that seemed to be pulsating with powerful magic.

"Looks like this is it," said Rainbow. "Alright Fluttershy, bring her down." Soon they had landed and entered the maze to see a large blonde woman with a pair of wings on her back and a large sword in her hand.

"Oh, praise the light!" she said. "Someone has come at last!"

"Lady Oriel, your grace," said Twilight, bowing. "We have come to investigate about the fairies along the street."

"They have been corrupted by dark magic of an unknown source," said Oriel, and she summoned a gold-edged card. "Here. Since you have come in my hour of need, use this treasure card in a future duel." The card floated out in front of Fluttershy like it was drawn to her and when it fell into her hand, the picture was shown as a seraph.

"I can't accept this, milady," she said.

"Please do. You'll need it," said Lady Oriel. Fluttershy smiled at that and slipped the card into a secondary deck on her belt.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6: Dark Fairies (pt. 2)**

"So mind explaining what's going on with the fairies on the street?" asked Rainbow, as a small green sprite landed on one of her wings. "They don't look anything like the ones in here."

"I wish I could, but without the fairy dust that falls from their wings, I can't." said Lady Oriel.

"Oh, so this stuff is fairy dust?" asked Pinkie, pulling a small bag out of her pocket. "It was on the ground when we took down those fairies earlier."

"And you're only tellin' us about this now because?" asked Applejack.

"'Never pounce on an advantage as soon as it appears'," said Pinkie.

"'Wait till it stands to have maximum effect'," finished Twilight. "Well, nice to see you read that book I gave you last week. But then, why'd you give it back after three minutes?"

"What can I say? I'm a quick study," said Pinkie as she handed the dust to Lady Oriel, but after one look at it, she seemed visibly shaken.

"Are you alright, Lady Oriel?" asked Fluttershy.

"My fairies have been cursed by dark magic," she replied. "These are indeed dark times."

"No argument here. But what could be causing this?" asked Twilight.

"I've heard that someone has been hung bone cages along the street," said the seraph. "I fear they are being used to trap and corrupt my fairies."

"Bone cages? I thought those were lanterns," said Rainbow.

"So did I at first, but then some of my fairies started vanishing and returning corrupted, then the same fate soon befell others," said Lady Oriel. "You must go and release fairies from bone cages along the street before they are corrupted. Please, hurry."

"We're on it," said Rainbow and she led everyone out. Soon, they had each destroyed two bone cages, hanging from the lampposts lining the street, freeing the fairies trapped inside. Then the fairies started talking about their captor.

"So he clacked around while he was roundin' you up?" asked Applejack.

"Yes. Whoever he was, he sounded like he was all bones." said one of the fairies.

"Well, that's weird, but all of you should head back to the maze to recoup. We'll meet you there later," said Rainbow. Later, they were just inside the gate to the hedge maze when they heard a tiny joyful voice calling their names. They looked and saw a small amber fairy flying around near the pillars.

"Oh, aren't you adorable?" said Fluttershy, letting it land on her hand. "Who are you?"

"My name's Blossom. Thank you for helping out my friends," she said. "They didn't mean to be evil, but the corruption made them do bad things."

"It's okay, Blossom. We understand," said Twilight. "But I can't help but feel like this is all linked to something very sinister."

"That may be, but now that you're here, there is hope again, and the fairies will be able to bring magic and cheer to the people of Wizard City once again," said Blossom. "Thank you, girls. All of you."

"Anytime, Blossom. If you ever need us for anything, don't hesitate to come find us," said Rainbow. Blossom smiled and flew out onto the street with some sort of cleansing dust which reverted all the dark fairies in the road back to normal, then they flew up and created a large rainbow with their dust.

"We thank you, girls," said Lady Oriel. "The freed fairies have already told me of your heroism. Your deeds will always be remembered here on Unicorn Way."

"Thank you, Lady Oriel." said Rarity.

"And to show our appreciation, please take and add these healing spells to your decks." she said and a group of fairies brought all the girls small packs of green cards.

"Thank you, milady. We'll put these to good use," said Twilight.

"I'm sure you will, but we must find out who caused this corruption." said the seraph.

"Well, the fairies we saved said that whoever captured them sounded like he was all click-clacking bones," said Rainbow. "Know anyone like that?"

"No, but Ceren might. He grew up here and knows the street like the back of his hand," said Lady Oriel. "Go to him and find out what's going on." Quickly the girls took Ceren's carpet back up the street and explained the situation.

"So who do you think caused all this?" asked Twilight.

"When the Dark Fairies started appearing on the street, I had suspected it was the work of Lady Blackhope, the local ghost witch, but even she's never tried to enchant fairies before." he said.

"Well, the fairies told us that some sort of skeleton locked them in the Bone Cages." said Rarity.

After hearing that, Ceren laughed. "Of course," he chuckled. "Who else could it be but Rattlebones?"

"You know him?" asked Pinkie.

"I grew up here. I know quite a bit," he said. "I don't know what evil master has aided him yet, but Rattlebones threw my old friend Delia out of her tower and taken it over."

"Well, I'm pretty sure we can get it through his head that he wasn't invited," said Rainbow.

"Well, good luck. I told you about the ghosts, right? They won't let you anywhere close to that place." said Ceren.

"I thought you said they couldn't touch the sidewalks." said Twilight.

"They can't. But I know you can make it," said Ceren. "Drive Rattlebones out of the tower and stop him from making any more cages. Please… do what you can to save the fairies."

"We will," said Twilight as the girls went running and flying to the tower.


End file.
